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Shameless plug (and still a work in progress): http://fiatcollapse.blogspot.com/2010/09/pimcos-el-erian-does-not-believe-eu.html

Indiscriminate and irresponsible lending has not fully been punished, IMHO. And what is the result? TBTF institutions that are still calling the shots, setting up the entire system for a more catastrophic collapse in the future. In a capitalist society, a failed borrower loses the ability...

Whose losses are we discussing here? Deutsche Bank? Societe Generale? Yes, those two institutions are politically important, I would think. More so than the human constituents of the EU.

The ECB's actions are making someone whole again, that under a capitalist system, should have experienced failure. To me, that's printing, and it ultimately distorts the economy, and creates the circumstances for a greater catastrophe down the road.

The collapse is in progress right now. I think people have this mistaken view of historical time... that a big event has to take place within a well defined 24 hr period or so... and that it has a well defined beginning, middle, and end. Debt deflation is going on right now real time, in...

The credit system, which has its focus in the so-called national banks and the big money-lenders and usurers surrounding them, constitutes enormous centralisation, and gives to this class of parasites the fabulous power, not only to periodically despoil industrial capitalists, but to interfere...

I think the value in most competing economic theories is their criticism of other theories. That said, understanding Marxism is still important, as it points out some valid criticisms of capitalism. In Das Kapital, Marx differentiated between industrial capital and finance capital, and was...

If it weren't for those "communists" running the country and taking over Fannie and Freddie and the entire housing financial system, your house's value would have dropped at least over 50%. Homeowners are beneficiaries of Obama's policies - I'm not saying I support all of Obama's policies - I...

Something else that is telling in Greece: Greece, being a small country in a rather volatile area of the world has mandatory military service. Having parents born in Greece - I applied for dual citizenship, so in about a year from now, I could be drafted. The laws on military service have...

The strike is over. Fuel deliveries are picking up again. As of yesterday, a couple hundred union truckers broke ranks and went back to work fearing criminal and civil fines. The union had no choice but to negotiate. It was easy for the government to push the union, IMHO. The disruptions...

Morally, austerity makes more sense because it rewards the savers and punishes the debtors. Inflation does the opposite. But how do the two different policies play out on a macro level? I think it's still too early to make a judgement. But I'll compare Greece and the US: In terms of...

I'm in a Haagen Daz cafe right now, it's morning - 9:40 am. Looks like there must have been overnight delivieries of gas to the island. Across the street there's a gas station - and it's extremely busy. Cars and motorcycles a few blocks long. A policeman is directing traffic due to the jam...

I'm in Greece right now, on an island in the Ionian. There is only one gas station that has gas near the capital city of Kefalonia Island. I passed by it about 2 hours ago and there was a line of cars about a half mile long. The neghboring island of Zakynthos just furloughed all municipal...

In a debt based monetary system, sovereign debt is not supposed to be paid off "in full." Debt = money. Paying off debts destroys money. Think of double entry book-keeping. On one side is the government debt. That is a liability. On the other side is Private sector money. That is an...

You misunderstood my point. Look I agree with you - it's crony capitalism. I do not support what has been happening so far. My argument is that if we install pure laissez faire capitalist policies - the system is toast. What you describe is not true capitalism. It is socialism for the...

You want capitalism? Liquidate the Fed's balance sheet of 1.5 Trillion of crap loans and raise rates above inflation. Mark to market - everything. Remove all stimulus from the economy. Then we'll see what capitalism looks like. Interesting that last year the federal budget deficit was...

Do you have any idea of the size of an ostrich omelet? It can feed a family of four! In the post armageddon collapse, my ostrich will be the envy of the neighborhood.

Right back at ya MG! Reality sucks... I know. Cheers and good luck.

We're stuck. The elites wanted greater profits through lower wages... but they don't want real estate to crash along with salaries. Why? because the banking system implodes. Well guess what? Real estate IS crashing yet they are holding up the mortgage debts artificially: This...

Do you really think this crisis is one of political parties? It's a monetary system crisis. The Banks are only taking advantage of it. It's beyond political party rescue. It will resolve on its own through inevitable collapse. Show me one fiat debt based monetary system in history that...